


All Forms of Love

by wrotedownoursong



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Childhood Friends AU, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Modern AU, Neighbours AU, Not Related, Rey Kenobi, it's all ben and only ben solo, there is no kylo ren, this is just all fluff, will eventually have more characters like finn and poe and jesseka and stuff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-04
Updated: 2016-02-13
Packaged: 2018-05-18 04:13:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5897782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wrotedownoursong/pseuds/wrotedownoursong
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Modern au. She always knew him as the boy next door, he always knew her as the girl next door. For all they could remember, they were each other's. Friend. Anchor. Shoulder to cry on. Vent outlet. Everything. But will lover ever be added onto the list? It only takes some figuring out.</p><p>or</p><p>When optimistic ray of sunshine meet the quiet reserved boy. Everyone finds Rey adorable, and Ben is no exception.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Wee babies

**Author's Note:**

> Not beta'd and my first reylo work, please be gentle :)
> 
> This is a story for a friend on tumblr, for being so supportive with me <3

“Ben, be gentle with the baby.” Leia called out quietly as the young boy cradled the baby awkwardly in his arms on the bed beside his mother. Ben Kenobi had just invited the Solos and Luke to come over and meet the new baby. 

Calling the Solos, Luke Skywalker and Ben Kenobi close was an understatement. Even though they were all neighbours, with the Solos in A103, Luke in A105 and Ben in his small martial arts academy right across the street by their high-rise building, the history of their relationship went back way far. Ben was a close friend with Luke and Leia’s parents, he had always hovered around in their childhood, as the cool old uncle. Ben took excessive care of them because their mother died during their birth, which devastated their father, Anakin. For a while Anakin was depressed and could barely function as a human being, risking the custody of his children. Ben had to personally slap the senses into him, and eventually pulled him through. After that, Anakin was a great father to the two, only had his eyes and heart for them. 

And Ben would often visit the Skywalkers on the weekends, taking the children out to the amusement parks and to his martial arts academy. The kids would laugh and clap as they watch his students throw each other violently onto the mat, then they would play wrestle with Ben reciprocating his students’ aggression during practice. All his students loved them too, the twins learnt more from them than they did from him. Seeing how much they enjoyed the blue mats, the action, the sweat, Anakin and Ben decided to enroll the children to his academy, and since then they were his brightest and proudest students. When they were both seventeen, their father died in a car accident. It was a drunk driver. The sudden tragedy had broken all three of them, but Ben did not let it show in front of the twins. He took them in, and cared for them. And as time went on, as the kids grew up, they slowly pushed Ben away for they no longer want to burden him any longer (even though he told them several times that they were not). He was proud of the two kids. Leia grew up to be a prestigious university professor teaching astrophysics while Luke became a doctor. And at twenty, Leia met and fell in love with Han, a dashing military pilot, and at twenty-six, she married him. It was no surprise, when she gave birth to a young boy a few years later, she named him after Ben himself. “The name carries honor and love,” she told Ben, eyes glistened with tears of joy while holding the sleeping boy. “I am forever grateful for how much you have cared for us.”

At that moment, ironically, he felt a little tinge of sadness. He realized how much he missed taking care of the kids. Leia had noticed it all and bought an apartment near his academy so they could be closer again. But he still felt empty. Being a bachelor for all his life he never had any kids (except for Leia and Luke); he just never cared for romance. Luke would often tease his old master that the Cupid probably had cut his red string. Of course Ben’s reason had always been he was too dedicated to his small martial arts academy, he had no time for dating or marriage or love. “But you love kids!” Leia once exclaimed. It was true, he did. He looked forward to teaching his junior classes. He loved children’s enthusiasm and their energy, the little curious souls always find fun and positivity in everything they do, unlike his older students, they were more intense and too thoughtful. Maybe it’s the age catching up to him, he himself used to be a constructed man who only spoke with seriousness, as time goes on he noticed himself becoming much more youthful in his mentality. Also lonely. Leia insisted him taking care of Ben, but he knew deeply down, she wanted to educate him herself with Han. That’s why he decided to adopt Rey. The little bundle of joy. The moment he saw her in the adoption centre he felt her radiating warmth and light. Rey, that’s what I will call her. He remembered himself thinking.

“No, he’s doing fine, Leia,” The older Ben chuckled lightly as he saw Rey’s little hand resting softly on the younger Ben’s cheek, staring at him with her curious eyes. “Let the boy hold her, she seemed to like him.”

“With his father’s good looks, I’m not surprised.” Han smirked while Leia pushed him teasingly. “Fine… Mother’s too.”

“Oh my god you managed to make it all about you again…” Luke tilted his head jokingly at Han.

Han rolled his eyes. 

Leia quickly took the baby out of Ben’s arms and smiled gently, “You boys hush. What I mean is Ben is still only two, I don’t think he knows how to handle a baby yet.”

She lightly smoothen the baby’s cheeks with her fingers, and the baby took the opportunity to hold on to one of them. Leia tenderly kissed the baby’s forehead, little Rey’s cuteness was hard to resist. She had little locks with the colour of cinnamon sprouting out of her little head, contrasting her pale skin that reminded Leia much of the gentleness of a cloud. The child always seemed to have a contagious sweet smile resting on her face, an immediate likable façade. 

“Mommy hug me too,” little Ben rested his head on his mother’s arm, obviously jealous of all the attention Rey was getting.

“Hold on a second, Ben, mommy is holding Rey,” Leia smiled apologetically at him.

A childish tantrum grew and Ben began to form a frown. He nudged his mother more, “hug me now mommy!”

Leia defeated, untwined one of her arms and held Ben closely while she was holding Rey with another. This brought Ben closer to Rey, he didn’t want to be this close to someone who was stealing the love of his mother away from him. Rey stared at him with her annoyingly large sparkling eyes, just like she did when he was holding her; he glared back at the baby coldly, trying to intimidate her. It backfired, for Rey started giggling, and reached out to move closer to him. His mother let her, and sighed happily at the adorable sight in front of her. Ben huffed. 

“Ben, Rey will be your new friend,” her mother spoke with sweetness. “You must take a good care of her, ok?”

Ben huffed again, and nodded bitterly.

Leia pushed the two children closer, Ben seemed appalled while Rey took a full liking of him and started playing with his messy hair. He tried to push her off of him, but Rey just wouldn’t let go, not only that, she kept on smiling at him like she did nothing wrong. He sighed, and gave up. He really did not like that girl, he might have even hated her. But of course that wasn’t true, no one could resist Rey’s cuteness.

\--------------------

Even when they grew older, nothing has changed. Now Rey was four and Ben was six. Rey to no one’s surprise, was an extrovert, she had an enthusiastic attitude toward everything and had a cheery personality; friends came easy for her. Ben on the other hand, was a reserved and quiet kid who buried himself into books, he frequently visited the bookstore. Rey of course, would tag along to read with him. And that’s how the kids became close with the bookstore owner down the street. Maz was her name, she loved the children, and she often said the two were like the niece and nephew she always wanted but never had. Rey always argued that Maz liked her more, Ben would just roll his eyes. 

Maz enjoyed the kids’ visits; she simply liked observing them. The two kids were inseparable; there wasn’t a single time they weren’t together. Ben may look annoyed whenever Rey attached herself to him, but everyone knew that secretly he loved her company as much as she loved his. Rey was smart and curious for her age, and would often ask many questions as the two read. Ben wanted to be endorsed himself in his own reading and would often tell Rey to be quiet, but of course she never would, not until Maz gave the children some candies to eat. Rey was never a selfish child, even though Ben never reached out for a single piece of those candies the entire time when he was reading, she never ate all of them. He wished she would because when she was done with her share she would resume back into asking him questions. It didn’t take long until Ben found a solution that would keep her quiet and also read his books, he read aloud for the both of them. 

It was a cozy scene to watch, Maz loved it. They always read by the corner of the store, under the glass window. The sunlight would bathe their little bodies with warmth and tranquility, and Rey would relaxingly lay her head onto Ben’s lap, while Ben read out each word enthusiastically because “that’s how papa would read stories”. His eyes shone with excitement and Rey would giggle along as he impersonated the characters in the books. 

Rey liked the way his eyes looked when he read, they resembled a lot like the black pearls she had seen in one of the science picture books she had read. And Ben liked the way she giggled, it reminded him of bells. He liked the sound of bells, because they often meant Christmas. And boy did he love Christmases…

\-----------------------------

“Hey nerd boy, do you hear me?” the boy taunted. 

Ben sighed. He just couldn’t do anything in peace. When he was with Rey, he couldn’t hear himself think over her loud blabbing. Now without her, he was harassed by other kids. Ben wasn’t a people’s person, and he hated the other kids in his grade school classes. He found only some tolerable, for instance, Phasma; it might be because Phasma was just as quiet as him. But Phasma was tall, nearly a head over everyone in the class, no one dared to tease Phasma at all due to her height. 

“Are you deaf or something?” the boy yelled again.

He raised an eyebrow but never lifted his eyes away from the pages of his book, still sitting on the park bench by the playground. “If you had half of the brain cells of a pig you would have taken the hint that I just don’t want to talk to you.”

The boy was immediately red with his eyes bulging out and mouth twisted unevenly into his face. If Ben cared to even glance at him, he would have laughed at how comical the boy looked. Seeing how much he didn’t care aggravated the boy even more, Ben could practically sense a punch coming. After being sent off to his grandpa Ben’s academy at three, all these small fights provoked by others meant nothing to him. Even though he could use force to make the boy leave, but Ben still want to keep everything civil. He slowly looked up and gave the boy a cold glare to warn the boy to back off. The boy seemed to be shocked that Ben finally decided to look at him, cold sweat began to form in his palms but his fist still held tight in offensive stance. Ben calculated that he would just need to launch his book to the boy’s wrist when he throws his punch and a small flick to his side, the boy will be on the ground in seconds. He waited but the punch never came, instead he heard a loud groan in pain, and the boy fell forward with a thud.

“Do you know it’s not nice to call people deaf? That’s rude!” standing over the fallen boy was Rey sending daggers with her eyes. Of course Rey would, being so young and still not able to grasp the concept of fear, she knocked a boy more than half of her size down on the ground. Ben smirked, Kenobi taught her well.

“You need a girl to fight your battles?” the boy grimaced.

Rey wrinkled her nose at the boy’s comment, and was about to throw herself on him. Ben stood up, and pulled Rey by her arm.

“No, I don’t need to, but it is enjoyable to watch you getting beaten down by a four year old.” Ben said coolly.

The boy yelled more offensive stuff at the two as they hurried away, but neither of them cared at this point.

They walked the whole way back home in silence; Ben didn’t need to look at Rey to know that she was pouting. But Ben was better at the silent game, so Rey spoke out,

“What? No ‘thank you’?!”

He glanced at her, “What? For almost getting your own butt kicked?”

“Hey, he had HIS butt kicked! By me!” Rey stopped and stood in front of him. “I was defending you!”

Ben sighed quickly and pinched the ridge of his nose. “Rey, I can take care of him myself. He is so much bigger than you. The pain was only for a little while, he could have gotten up and hurt you.”

Rey pouted even harder, her little lips curled up so high it almost looked like she could kiss her own wrinkled nose. Ben tried to ignore her, he couldn’t let her win this time, she was the one who was being impulsive. But how could he ignore her when her coffee brown eyes glistened at him and her messy brown curls dancing slightly with the wind, through her failed attempt to look intimidating and angry, she looked more or less more childish. His face softened at her adorableness, and patted her head. He sighed in defeat.

“Thanks Rey,” he said quietly and tapped her nose before he continued to walk.

Rey’s eyes lightened up and ran after him, “What did you say, I didn’t hear you!”

Ben just shook his head and tried suppressing his escaping smile. Rey hooked her arms around his empty arm without the book, walking happily beside him.

As they gotten closer to Kenobi’s academy, Rey’s home, she let go and waved him goodbye. Before she walked in he grabbed her gently by the shoulders and looked into her soft brown eyes,  
“next time, let me deal with them. I don’t want to risk you getting hurt.”

Rey shook her head with a stupid grin on her face.

“Nah, Ben, I won’t get hurt by them.”

He looked at her doubtingly. 

“Because I know you won’t let them.”

Just like that she walked inside.


	2. Grade school years

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben hates how biology works, because he's shorter than Rey. Rey is beginning to understand the pain of being a woman.

Once Rey was old enough to go to grade school, she was enrolled into the same one as Ben, the Jedi Elementary. Despite her closeness with him she was not reliant on Ben at all; she was excited to find new friends. Ben, reserved as ever, still liked to read during his spare time which now Rey was slowly growing out of. She still liked reading, that never changed, but she just didn’t like reading _all_  the time. Unlike Ben, she didn’t like to stuff her face inside of books when she could be active and play tag during recess.

 

Already on the first day, she made couple of friends with people in her class. At recess, they all traded snacks and sat on the monkey bars. Sitting on the monkey bars made her feel like she was on top of the world. She could see the top of the roof of the school, the whole playground outstretched all the way to the parking lot, and she could see every single person running around on the soccer field and on the basketball court; she had an illusion of authority. As she sat on the monkey bars swinging her legs casually and eating the chocolate bar she traded with a girl named Loraine, she saw Ben sitting on the bench on the other end of the playground. As always he was reading, and beside him she saw a taller girl with short blonde hair also doing the same thing. Neither of them talked to each other, but there was an unspoken sense of respect between the two to not breaking the silence. They seemed to be comfortable with one another.

 

Rey stared curiously on. She knew Ben had a friend but she didn’t know she was a girl. She felt a little giddy and excited suddenly. Ben with a girl. That was interesting.

* * *

 

Ben was a late bloomer, and he hated that. It had something to do with his pride, being the same height as Rey since she turned eight. Then it didn’t help that Rey was rapidly growing afterward, how could a ten year old girl be taller than a twelve year old boy?! Not only that, since she had been incessantly practicing with Ben Kenobi, her basic physique and strength were much better than average children’s, even to Ben sometimes he found it hard to go against her. Rey obviously saw this as some sort of advantage, maybe she liked the feeling of overpowering him.

 

“Rey for Christ’ sake stop.” For the third time he had been pinned under her on the blue mat. “If you are trying to prove that you are stronger than me, you need to stop because I get it.”

 

She chuckled gracefully, still sitting on top of him but releasing her hands away from his arms.

 

“To prove that I’m stronger?” she flipped the little stray strands of her hair exaggeratingly. “I already know I am.”

 

Ben huffed, glaring at her without any true harshness from the ground.

 

Rey smiled and leaned forward to poke his cheeks. “Oh little Ben, you look so cute when you are angry.”

 

He immediately sat up while Rey was still in his lap, which caused her to lean back just as fast. They were only noses apart with Ben staring intensely at her face. The sudden proximity surprised her for she didn’t think he would have such a big reaction, but it didn’t seem to faze Ben at all.

 

“Don’t call me that.” He bit each word.

 

“But everyone calls you that…” Rey slowly adjusting herself. It was true, everyone called Ben “little Ben”, to distinguish him from Ben Kenobi. Ben always told the others that they could just call him “Ben Jr” or something not with the word “little”, but “little Ben” stuck longer, to his disappointment.

 

“But I’m older than you.” Ben frowned. “So you can’t call me that.”

 

Rey tilted her head slightly and smiled innocently, “But you don’t look like it.”

 

Ben leaned his head back out of frustration and groaned loudly, his face then returned to hers with her still smiling at him like an idiot. Out of revenge, he flicked her nose. She let out a small yelp quickly patting her nose with one hand.

 

“You laugh now, Rey, I will be taller than you, and also stronger, just watch.” He said with determination.

 

She ruffled his hair, to spite him. She knew he never really liked it when she did it, but she could not resist his fluffy raven hair, bangs hovering over his brows, long enough for her to run her hands through them aggressively.

 

“For now you are not, little Ben.” She smirked at him. “For now, you will still be my little Ben.”

* * *

 Rey was smart for her age, the teachers had noticed. Mr. Windu, the principal, contacted Ben Kenobi right away when she aced her junior math and English contests getting first place for both contests in her school, saying she was truly gifted for her age and there was no point to stay in her current grade. The school wanted her to skip a grade, Kenobi was definitely proud and agreed with the idea immediately, while Rey agreed reluctantly.

 

“Don’t worry Rey, you’ll be fine,” Kenobi patted her head comfortingly. “It is just one grade higher.”

 

But Rey was already familiar with the people in her class, sure making friends wasn’t hard for her, but a change in the middle of the year sounded a little bit scary to her. It seemed like Ben Kenobi saw right through her and hugged her tightly.

 

“I’m sure everyone will love you,” He soothed her gently. “No one can resist our little Rey.” 

* * *

 

On the first day of the change she became immediately friends with a boy who was equally cheery as her. His name was Finn. Unlike some of her other classmates, Finn did not care at all about Rey being younger, he just liked Rey for who she was.

 

“Wow, you know how to change fractions to decimals?” Finn exclaimed in awe. “We are just learning that!”

 

Rey blushed and nodded. “Oh it’s nothing, I just read a lot with Ben, and we would…”

 

She cut herself off; she forgot that Finn probably did not know who Ben was. Finn continued to stare at her in awe and smiled enthusiastically at her, hinting her to go on.

 

“We would read math, English and science books for hours.” She said fondly with a smile of her own. “But I don’t do that often anymore, nowadays I only read with him on some weekends.”

 

“Wow! Is Ben your brother or something?” he asked curiously.

 

For some reason that question stumped Rey a little. She had never thought about that. Was Ben her brother? They were not related or anything she knew that, but she also couldn’t call Ben her friend because that would be an understatement.

 

“He is… something like that.” She answered slowly, still thinking. “He isn’t my brother brother, but he is not just my friend either.”

 

“That sounds complicated,” Finn looked at her with blank eyes but immediately smiled again. “It doesn’t matter, let’s go play!”

 

Just like that he led her toward the playground while holding her hand. She felt truly content at her heart, she couldn’t ask a better person to be her best friend, anyone other than Ben that was…

* * *

 It was the next year, when Rey went to sixth grade, she started volunteering as a helper after school. She helped her teacher grading some small quizzes, and also homework aid with younger grade. Rey enjoyed what she was doing; it made her feel like a teacher herself. She thought maybe one day she would become one too, like Ben’s mother, Leia. She always admired Leia. When she was playing at Ben’s house sometimes, she found herself watching Leia attentively as she was grading er students’ papers. The Old Republic University was well-known to be the top school of the country, adding onto that Leia was a famous professor that appeared in several educational magazines. Leia was a respected woman, a woman full of wit and determination; a woman radiating elegance and intelligence. Rey wished herself to be like that one day.

 

On the other hand, she also idolized Ben’s father, Han, a lot too. He would always tell Ben and her stories of him flying and soaring in the air. Rey longed for the adventures and thrill Han experienced quite frequently, she hoped that one day she could fly a plane herself. Rey was fascinated while Ben would always seem a bit more bored. Ben had never been too close with Han, mostly due to Han’s usual long absence for work. Each time Han came home after months of being gone, Ben would grow a little bit colder with him. But Rey still showed Han the same enthusiasm and love each time, she knew on the inside Ben was just as grateful as her of his father’s return, but Ben held his own personal grudges. In about a few days, his father would make his return again, and she could feel Ben’s mild change of mood leaning toward to the negative side. She shook her head with sadness, when will Ben understand that his father had no choice.

 

“Just take the workbooks to the classroom, I will be right there in a while,” Mr. Lorey, her teacher, said with grateful tone. “Thanks, Rey, you really don’t have to stay this long all the time.”

 

Rey gave him a bright smile. “I have nothing to do anyway, I don’t mind helping.”

 

“Alright if you say so,” Mr. Lorey chuckled warmly. “Then I guess I will see you tomorrow in class.”

 

“Have a nice afternoon, Mr. Lorey,” she nodded.

 

She picked up the stack of workbooks from his desk and walked out of the teacher’s office to see Ben leaning against the wall casually.

 

“I’m pretty sure the teachers didn’t ask you to stay this late.” He quirked an eyebrow at her as he talked.

 

“What are you still doing here?” she asked him with surprise.

 

“Band practice.” He said coolly, one hand on his cello case.

 

Right, she remembered. Ben played the cello. Technically, Ben played the violin, but cello was more fitting for their school band. Not a lot of schools around their district had cello players, mostly because grade school bands were obviously for amateur starters, so the schools only taught the flute, the clarinet and the bass. However Ben picked up violin in grade two then cello in grade three, he was a quite experienced musician. Maybe there was music in his genes, even though neither Leia nor Han played anything professionally, but he could pick up instruments very easily. The school thought it would be a shame if they didn’t incorporate his skills in the band, so they made him a ‘special case’ and let him play in the intermediate band. Rey of course refused to join the school band. She loved music but only in the sense of admiring it not playing it.

 

“Well, nothing bad with staying a little bit longer to help.” She snapped her head away from him and walked passed him without looking at him.

 

He pulled the cello onto his back and followed silently after her. Swiftly he took the stack of workbooks out of her hands, before she could protest that he already had enough weight on him with the cello and his book bag and she was perfectly capable of carrying these books herself, he gave her a knowing glance,

 

“Better hurry up or you’re walking home by yourself.”

 

She huffed as they walked toward to her classroom. When they arrived, Finn was in the classroom too, seemingly to have returned from his baseball practice to get his bags.

 

“Hey Rey!” he greeted with a toothy grin, then it faltered a little as he slowly looked toward Ben. “Is… Is this your boyfriend?” he asked Rey curiously.

 

Rey’s face immediately cringed at his question while Ben’s remained stoic and emotionless.

 

“Wow way to jump to conclusions,” she slapped Finn’s arm quickly. “This is Ben, my…”

 

“Neighbour.” Ben answered for her. He wasn’t wrong, but she didn’t like that answer.

 

Finn nodded understandingly and apologetically. “Sorry if I sounded too blunt or rude when I asked, it’s just that I’ve noticed you guys always walked home together in the past and never drew the lines together that you were The Ben Rey talked about.”

 

There was a silence. Ben didn't say anything, so she quickly nudged him and gestured at Finn, "And uh Ben, this is Finn, my friend."

 

Ben looked and still quiet, he just put the stack of workbooks onto the teacher’s desk. Finn might have taken his silence as an offence and stared sadly at Ben. Rey shook her head with a smile,

 

“It’s fine Finn. We understand, Ben is not mad, he’s just quiet.”

 

Ben quickly ruffled her hair as he walked passed behind her and she scowled quietly at him,

 

“Get your stuff or I’m leaving without you.”

 

Then he was out of the door of the classroom, waiting for her outside.

 

Finn blinked. “Well… he doesn’t like me.”

 

Rey chuckled as she packed her pencil bag and her books into her bag. “Oh look at you jumping to conclusions again, he’s a dimwit once you know him…” Then distracted she continued, “Mr. Lorey will lock up the door later, so just close it after you leave ok? I’ll see you tomorrow.”

 

“Yeah, I know he told me,” Finn grinned. “Yeah see you tomorrow!”

 

She put one strap of her bag on her back when she finished and ran out while waving at him.

 

After Rey vanished, Finn was still standing in the middle of the empty classroom, trying to process his awkward encounter with Ben. With how Rey described him in their daily basis, Ben sounded like a laid back and intelligent person. Not saying he wasn’t after their meeting, but Finn did not imagine Ben the way he was. He scratched his head and chuckled at how opposite Rey and Ben were. Rey was loud and cheery, while Ben was distant and cold almost. Snapping back to reality he zipped up his bag and looked out the window. And there was Rey walking beside Ben. Even though Finn was only exposed to their backsides, he could tell Rey was being jumpy as always, she skipped while she walked and seemed to be telling Ben something very exciting. Ben’s face turned side ways to look at her, not much emotion on his face. He then proceeded to pinch her nose lightly, which calmed Rey’s enthusiastic movements down to a pout.

 

Maybe it’s the distance, he wasn’t sure, because after that Finn saw Ben’s face soften with a peaking smile when Rey continued to talk. It shouldn’t be so surprising considering how close they were, but he still did not expect that.

* * *

 Sixth grade was a year of change, to Rey, it was a bodily change. When mother nature gave her her first visit, Rey was left mortified. Don’t get her wrong, she knew what periods were, they had sex-ed in school. Adding on to that, she also remembered the time when Ben Kenobi tragically attempted to explain how the uterus worked until Leia could not take it any longer and had to talk to Rey herself on how to deal with the monthly visits. Knowing it to be something she would have to deal with one day, she still took it as a myth since it seemed to be something that would happen sometime later. She heard some girls talk about it in class through their whispers about it, and that was about it.

 

She didn’t expect it to happen so soon, technically she was still eleven years old, she thought it would start when she turned thirteen. She muffled a curse, why did it have to come now, she wasn’t prepared yet (physically or emotionally). Her pale blue jeans now patterned with light rose petals, she could feel the redness tinting. Her crewneck sweater was not long enough to cover her stains she didn’t know what to do. First she thought maybe she should ask a female classmate for help, but she was not that close with any of the girls in the class and they seemed to distant themselves from her.

 

The bell rang. She began to panic; she couldn’t be stuck on this chair forever. To avoid suspicions from others, she packed her bags slower than she did usually to stall time for brewing up more plans.

 

Slowly fewer and fewer people were left in the class, all going home. Finn, knowing her, noticed her strangeness and walked up to her.

 

“Are you alright, Rey?” he asked concernedly.

 

She looked up to him quickly, giving him the most convincing smile, “Oh sure, I’m fine, just uhm… need to finish something before I leave.”

 

Finn stared at her.

 

“Finn, it’s ok, don’t mind me, just go.” She reassured him with a grin.

 

“You sure?” he pushed on. “I can help you if you need anything. ”

 

 _Yes I do need something. “_ No, I’m fine, don’t worry, just go.” She insisted pleadingly.

 

Finn noticed her discomfort, immediately he was hit by guilt because he felt like he was forcing her to do something she didn’t want to do. So he patted her shoulder gently as he walked out of the door hesitantly,

 

“Alright then… Catch you later?”

 

“Catch you later.”

 

After he left, she let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding in. And not too soon, Mr. Lorley approached her too, also worried about her strangeness. She told him she was waiting for Ben. It’s a half lie, she was waiting for him so they could get home together, but it was always him waiting for her outside. Mr. Lorley didn’t find her excuse too suspicious so he nodded then left the room to photocopy some work for the next day. Now it was just her, her pants and the chair.

 

Ben and her only walk home together when their schedules meet up, and today was one of these days. Was he still waiting for her? Maybe he left her already with her not turning up for so long. She wouldn’t be surprised because he always threatened to leave without her. But then again, he never once left no matter how late she was. But maybe today was the last straw. She sighed. Maybe she should just sacrifice her dignity and make a run for it, no one would notice a blurred figure… right?

 

“Oh who am I kidding…” she banged her head to her desk, refusing to get back up.

 

She rested her head on the table for a long while until a familiar voice called out beside her. “You alright there?”

 

Head still on the table, she turned her face to the sound, she found herself facing Ben. He was sitting at a desk beside hers, staring at her softly.

 

“Did you get a detention?” he said in a questionable tone, knowing Rey that shouldn’t even be a possibility but he didn’t know what else was there to cause Rey look so distressed alone in the classroom.

 

“No,” she answered quickly giving him a disbelieving look.

 

“Then… are you sick?” his voice laced with concern.

 

“…No.” she replied hesitantly.

 

“Then we should get going because your grandpa will worry.” He grabbed her bag from her desk, stood up and turned to leave.

 

“WAIT,” Rey sat up instantly and grabbed the hem of his track jacket with one hand.

 

He stopped and turned around to look at her worryingly but also hinting a little impatience, “What’s really going on, Rey?”

 

“I uh…” she felt a blush slowly rising to her face. Contemplating how she should tell him. “Uhm, mother nature visited?”

 

He immediately understood, “does it hurt?”

 

“No…” she said weakly. “Just my pants…”

 

He put down both of their bags and unzipped his jacket, handing it to her.

 

“Here, take it.”

 

For a moment Rey was dumbfounded, sitting there looking at his extended hand holding his jacket.

 

“Do you want to sit here all day?” he raised an eyebrow at her.

 

She grabbed his jacket immediately and wrapped it around her waist.

 

For the rest of their walk home, Rey was quiet. She was still surprised by her situation and also a little embarrassed that the first person she talked about it with was with Ben. There was nothing wrong with it being Ben, thank God it was only Ben, he knew everything about her, but it was more to do with it being better with another female. She stole glances at him several times, he didn’t seem to be bothered at all. She was grateful at how Ben dealt with it so maturely. But she also felt bad that he was now left only in his short-sleeved t-shirt, and the weather was still a bit chilly. To add on the guilt, he had to stubbornly carry her backpack too.

 

“Ben, I can carry my own bag,” she broke the silence.

 

“It’s fine.” He replied simply.

 

“Seriously Ben, it's not like I'm hurt or anything, I can handle my own bag,” she said solemnly. “You already gave me your jacket. Thank you for that but…”

 

“Rey it’s fine.”

 

They didn’t talk for another minute.

 

“Are you cold?” she asked nervously, genuinely worried if he would get sick.

 

“Your bag keeps me warm.” He said it without looking at her.

 

“How does tha-“

 

He pinched her nose lightly, and gave her a slight grin. “Worry about yourself. Come to my place, my mom can help you. We’ll tell your grandpa about it, ok?”

 

She lowered her head to hide her smile. It’s times like this that remind her how much Ben meant to her.

* * *

 A few days later, the Solos’ household was echoed with Ben’s loud sneezes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YUp, this is about it. I want it to be slow burn but I still feeel like I'm developping them too fast. What do yall think?
> 
> Kudos/comment if you like :)

**Author's Note:**

> this story is inspired by a chinese fic I have read loooong ago. So some elements will look similar. If anyone one here can read chinese you can see the story here ( http://91baby.mama.cn/thread-554300-1-1.html )
> 
> kudos/comment if you like :)


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